A Call for Unity
In this week's Torah reading, humanity engages in two different sorts of evil. One generation becomes rife with theft and immorality, and the population is wiped out. Then a later generation unites to rebel against G-d, and G-d confuses their languages and divides...
Come Rest with Us!
This week, we begin a new cycle of reading the Torah. The Torah begins, of course, by describing G-d's Creation of Heaven and Earth. And at the end, He rested. G-d, of course, did not need to rest. The Almighty, Creator of time itself, has no need for time off -- and...
Ask Me Next Year
Taking the lesson encapsulated in Rabbi Winiarz’s words, let’s first think back over last year. How did we do? Did we grow? Did we meet our goals? Or did we quickly slip back into old patterns? Then we can think about what we should be asking for, praying for, and working towards — so that when we look back next year, we feel accomplished.
We Need to Do More
Prior to Rosh Hashanah, we read the Torah portion of Nitzavim, "standing." This comes from the first verse: "You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God, your heads, your tribes, your elders and your guards, every person of Israel" [29:9]. It is the...
An Abundance of Good
When we come to this week's reading, I always remember the way my teacher Rabbi Asher Rubenstein zt"l spoke about the poor person bringing his first fruits to the Temple. The Torah obligates a person to be happy. It is part of the Commandment to bring the First...
Helping Your Brother
In this week's reading, the Torah commands us to help each other, and to avoid pain even to animals: "You shall not see the donkey of your brother or his ox falling on the path, yet lift your eyes from them; you shall surely right it with him." [22: 4] It's not just a...
